Tirunelveli Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi Temple Structure - Part 4

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Read: Tirunelveli Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi Temple Structure Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.


Tirunelveli is an ancient town located in the southern part of India. It has one of the oldest and most significant temples of South India - Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi temple. Even though the temple of Nellaiyappar and Kanthimathi temple is a single temple, they can be considered two separate temples due to their structural style. In three of my previous posts, I wrote the structure of the Kanthimathi temple and the portion of the temple connecting both temples. In this article, I am writing about the design of the Nellaiyappar temple.

The sculpture of Vali - Tirunelveli Nellaiyappar Temple

Once you visit the Kanthimathi temple and enter the Nellaiyappar temple via the Sangili Mandapa, you can see the shrine of Dakshinamurti. This is basically the outer corridor (prakara) of the Nellaiyappar shrine. If you turn towards your left and move forward, you can find small shrines of Sankaralingam (Shiva) and Gomati Amman. Diagonally opposite this small shrine, there is a big shrine, almost like a tiny separate temple, for Shanmukha or Arumuganainar (Lord Muruga with six heads). He is found along with his two consorts, Valli and Devasena. The specialty of this shrine is that you can see even the sixth face of Skanda, which is located behind. Typically, it may not be possible in other temples. Next to this shrine, there is a shrine for a massive icon of Lord Ganesha. Opposite this, there is an entrance with a small temple tower.

If you go further into the corridor, you can find the temple elephant. There is a shrine for the ferocious icon of Bhairava. You can also find a small shrine for Meenakshi and Sundareswarar (Shiva). The Navagraha (nine planets) located opposite Sundareswarar shrine is very famous. This is located very near the main entrance of the Nellaiyappar shrine. You can also find the shrines of Vanniadi Sattanar, open ground space for religious discourses, Anwarnathan (Shiva's shrine built by a Muslim commander Anwar Khan), and various idols of Nayaka rulers who ruled Tirunelveli in the corridor.

In the next post, I will write about the layout of the main shrine of Nellaiyappar. Till then...

Happy travelling.

Procession statue of Bheem - Nellaiyappar Temple

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